Youve heard all the arguments about blogging, pro and con. Blogs are a wondrous innovation, keys that have unlocked a vast treasury of self-expression and allowed underdogs everywhere to challenge giants. No, wait! Blogs are a scourge that is debasing journalism, undermining traditional authority, drowning us all in meaningless chatter, and destroying civilization as we know it.

Over the last dozen years, while everyone was arguing about blogging, the new medium came into its own. What started as the passion of a handful of geeky pioneers evolved into the pursuit of millions. That is the story Scott Rosenberg tells.

SAY EVERYTHING chronicles bloggings unplanned rise and improbable triumph, tracing its impact on politics, business, the media, and our personal lives. What blogging has become, Rosenberg says, is a new kind of public sphere -- one in which we can think out loud together.

What good is blogging? Why write if only a few people will ever read your words? Do blogs encourage us to reveal our true selves or tempt us to experiment with false identities? Is anonymity a boon or a curse? Now that everyone can say everything, how do we find what matters? Who is Justin Hall and why does he loom so large in the history of blogging? And who were the pioneers of political blogging, mommyblogging, and other genres of blogging? Are blogs destroying traditional journalismand can blogs replace those outlets? Is blogging being eclipsed by social networks like Facebook and Twitter? Is the new phenomenon of lifelogging, in which everything we see, hear, and read is automatically recorded for future reference, going to supplant blogging and would that be a good thing?